Gina Rinehart visits Darwin to spruik northern development

Australia's wealthiest person Gina Rinehart has flown into Darwin, as she spruiks the benefits of developing the north.

Mrs Rinehart arrived at the Darwin Convention Centre on Saturday for the national conference of the Small Business Association of Australia (SBAA).

The mining magnate, who is worth a reported $20.01 billion, is the patron of the association and makes an address to their conference each year.

Asked her thoughts on developing northern Australia, Mrs Rinehart said she was very much in favour of it, adding that she was also a supporter of NT Chief Minister Adam Giles.

"I think he is very dedicated to northern development, and look, he has got the highest growth in Australia, 6 per cent," Mrs Rinehart said as she entered the convention centre.

Mrs Rinehart, whose personal fortune dropped almost a billion dollars last year, said nobody liked the fall in iron ore prices, which were largely to blame for her drop in wealth.

"Our own project will, we believe, be fine because it is in the lower quartile of costs," Mrs Rinehart said.

"There will be a lot of iron ore mines that will suffer."

She agreed that recent moves to buy stakes in two cattle stations were part of a strategy to diversify her investments.

Mrs Rinehart walked away without answering questions about the efforts by her children to have billions of dollars paid to them that they claim they were denied because she allegedly transferred mining interests, worth a reported $5 billion, out of a family trust.

A spokesman for the SBAA said Mrs Rinehart was expected to talk about her ambitions for developing northern Australia during her address at Saturday evening's dinner.

"She certainly wants to see development up there," the spokesman said.

"That is the theme of the conference this year."